Ausralians being taken advantage of by Princess Cruises

[Fletch1]

Only because they use the wrong TA,s!

 

All the US T/A,s I look at offer free OBC or Free Gratuities and the reason is US T/As are not allowed to sell cruises cheaper than the cruiseline like here so the OBC or Grats make up the hidden discount!

 

 

I agree with this.....we were on the Crown last year and not only were the cruise prices cheaper, but Americans and Canadians were also getting $750+ OBC, whereas we got like $50.

[cruisingsis]

I've managed to compare a Diamond Princess cruise on Dec 11 2013 out of Sydney and even when you take into account exchange rates, Princess Cruises are ripping off Australians by almost $1000 for the same cabin on the same cruise.

 

Is this fair or ethical? Would Americans accept this if the tables were reversed?

 

What are your thoughts and comments?

 

See attached image for cruise pricings.

 

By coincidence I have a very gd friend in USA who has offered to buy my husband and I a cruise on this exact sailing to celebrate a big anniversary. I guess she has offered that based on the rate she sees on Princess. I never knew they were different. Can anyone tell me if she is able to buy and pay for us at US rate. If not I will need to tell her ASAP. I am in NZ

[Aus Traveller]

By coincidence I have a very gd friend in USA who has offered to buy my husband and I a cruise on this exact sailing to celebrate a big anniversary. I guess she has offered that based on the rate she sees on Princess. I never knew they were different. Can anyone tell me if she is able to buy and pay for us at US rate. If not I will need to tell her ASAP. I am in NZ

I believe a person can book through American TAs if they have an American address, but I would like someone else to confirm that I am correct. :) Please don't just take my word for it.

[rkmw]

I believe a person can book through American TAs if they have an American address, but I would like someone else to confirm that I am correct. :) Please don't just take my word for it.

 

AT, we met some US people on our princess cruise last year and they said we could use their address but the US TA said no,it couldnt be done....when you filled in the details it would come up with own own address so i dont know how people get around that

[averageblokes]

Do not grin and bear it.

This has been a problem for a while but you do not have to pay the higher price.

I have just booked a transpacific cruise from the USA to Sydney and the Australia price worked out $1490 dearer than if I had booked in the states. I did the booking with the USA website up to the stage of payment then contacted by travel agent in Australia and told them that I preferred to use an Australian agent. They contacted Celebrity and after three days matched the price taking into account the exchange rate.

You have two options buy from a USA website (have 5 times now) or get your Australian agent to work on your behalf with the cruise line.

 

All good

[KarateMan]

I cant see what the problem is and why people have to be going for so cheap prices. I always roll my eyes when I hear of Australians trying to gain cheaper fares by going to international agents. The ones who do are always the first to complain about poor quality and cut-backs and BYO booze. If price is that much of an issue to people and it is breaking their budget to go on holidays then they should seriously reconsider their need to travel.

 

So what if Americans get it cheaper than all of us. There are probably good reasons why. I have never cared what anyone else has paid for their holiday and it is rude to ask.

 

If you want my opinion I always go for the most expensive I can afford and go for a comfortable and luxurious holiday. Forget cheapness. Go for opulence and luxury and use your money to buy top quality.

[The_Big_M]

 

If you want my opinion I always go for the most expensive I can afford and go for a comfortable and luxurious holiday. Forget cheapness. Go for opulence and luxury and use your money to buy top quality.

 

Hehe, that's amusing.

 

Why pay more than another guy for the same thing? If something's expensive just because you're willing to pay more, then that's just because they saw you coming. :D

[Bowie MeMe]

Most have them paid for them by their T/A as a bonus or relieve OBC to cover it so are paying nothing!

 

Where oh where do you get this information? I have over 200 days on ships and I have never had all my tips paid by the TA. The TA's in America are not getting that much commission any more and in fact it is getting rather hard to find a TA let alone one who has enough volume to do better for you than what you can do on internet. We get some good deals in America only in that the ships have gotten bigger and bigger and there are so many beds to fill they have to drop the price to fill them. If the bed is empty you have no chance as a company to sell liquor or shore excursions or photos etc. Australia does not have the huge number of people to fill those beds so the price goes up for Australians (and to punish you for being bad tippers!!!:D:rolleyes::D )

[MicCanberra]

I believe a person can book through American TAs if they have an American address, but I would like someone else to confirm that I am correct. :) Please don't just take my word for it.

 

Yes you can

 

AT, we met some US people on our princess cruise last year and they said we could use their address but the US TA said no,it couldnt be done....when you filled in the details it would come up with own own address so i dont know how people get around that

 

It needs to be your address, or have them book it for you (as a gift).:D

[KarateMan]

Hehe, that's amusing.

 

Why pay more than another guy for the same thing? If something's expensive just because you're willing to pay more, then that's just because they saw you coming. :D

 

I have never paid more than I have had to for a cruise. I look for good deals that involve cabins, credit and benefits. The prices we have here in Australia are very reasonable. I am not too concerned what a foreign market pays for their holiday. They have entirely different circumstances, laws and other factors that determine their price.

 

I just fear with all this talk of passengers trying to beat each other with cheap fares that it will just turn into a vicious circle where the cruise line responds accordingly and the passengers retaliate. We are seeing this already with BYO booze and cruise lines implementing restrictions. You have to think of what goes around comes around. Whatever passengers do to beat cruise lines and their profits will only result in more unfair restrictions. We have seen cruise lines respond to this by banning international travel agents from handling bookings any other than locally.

[ratukruise]

I have never paid more than I have had to for a cruise. I look for good deals that involve cabins, credit and benefits. The prices we have here in Australia are very reasonable. I am not too concerned what a foreign market pays for their holiday. They have entirely different circumstances, laws and other factors that determine their price.

 

I just fear with all this talk of passengers trying to beat each other with cheap fares that it will just turn into a vicious circle where the cruise line responds accordingly and the passengers retaliate. We are seeing this already with BYO booze and cruise lines implementing restrictions. You have to think of what goes around comes around. Whatever passengers do to beat cruise lines and their profits will only result in more unfair restrictions. We have seen cruise lines respond to this by banning international travel agents from handling bookings any other than locally.

 

Americans who are shareholders of Carnival and/or american ex service people get a discount. I don't have a problem with that but it does not apply to us, our Kiwi friends or the brits. The fact of the matter is if a cruise line is selling a product internationally (which they all are) then the price should be the same irrespective of country of residence.

[rkmw]

Yes you can

 

 

 

It needs to be your address, or have them book it for you (as a gift).:D

 

we got an email from their TA and they said it cant be done, so we havent bothered anymore about it

[MMDown Under]

I have never paid more than I have had to for a cruise. I look for good deals that involve cabins, credit and benefits. The prices we have here in Australia are very reasonable. I am not too concerned what a foreign market pays for their holiday. They have entirely different circumstances, laws and other factors that determine their price.

 

I just fear with all this talk of passengers trying to beat each other with cheap fares that it will just turn into a vicious circle where the cruise line responds accordingly and the passengers retaliate. We are seeing this already with BYO booze and cruise lines implementing restrictions. You have to think of what goes around comes around. Whatever passengers do to beat cruise lines and their profits will only result in more unfair restrictions. We have seen cruise lines respond to this by banning international travel agents from handling bookings any other than locally.

 

Fortunately, at the end of the day, the customer is King!

 

I can buy every form of my overseas travel requirements, including cruises, ferry, rail, coach, accommodation, theatre, etc. direct via the internet.

 

Why would I choose to support a cruise line which thinks it is OK to charge Australians more for the same cruise, simply because they are Australians?

[MMDown Under]

we got an email from their TA and they said it cant be done, so we havent bothered anymore about it

 

Maybe it was just their TA. Have you tried some of the large on line overseas TAs?

 

There was a good suggestion to ascertain their price, then get a high volume local TA to match the price (after they negotiate with the cruise line).

[rkmw]

Maybe it was just their TA. Have you tried some of the large on line overseas TAs?

 

There was a good suggestion to ascertain their price, then get a high volume local TA to match the price (after they negotiate with the cruise line).

 

i'm on the books with a US TA for booking an RCCL cruise but they cant give me a princess price as i havent booked a princess cruise with them

[The_Big_M]

Maybe it was just their TA. Have you tried some of the large on line overseas TAs?

 

The issue is it doesn't matter who does the booking, but who the travellers are.

 

When the traveller's details are entered as being in Australia, Princess will refuse commission to the US TA.

 

As rkmw is a past cruiser as well, even if the friends were nice enough to put their details down and be the contact point, the booking details will still show as Australian due to the passport details logged for rkmw, and if rkmw registered their Princess id it would also show as Australian.

 

Thus, you'd be very unlikely to get a US TA handling the booking, as they know they won't get paid.

[Dizziedi]

We have also been using a US TA for Royal Caribbean cruises but they are not allowed to offer Princess cruises to us.

 

Aus Traveller - you are correct so far as Princess is concerned but you do not need an American address for RCI.

 

Cheers

Di

[denny girl]

I enquired with the Vacations company about the HAL cruise we are currently booked on. They informed me I would need a residential address for bookings, also with Princess needed previous booking, but that I could book most other lines with them.

I found that AusHAL was actually cheaper at the time so booked with them.

I have two sons in the US so do have a residential address available if I wanted it. My point is that they both travel on an Australian passport even though they are residents of the US so the address really doesn`t mean much.

It`s a global society these days and we`re mostly sitting who knows where at our computer. The addresses people use aren`t necessarily where they spend their time. In the long run ships want you aboard spending your money.

There`s a huge long running thread on TA (where you are permitted to name companies) about all this. It gets updated from time to time.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k3350647-Regional_pricing_at_what_cost-Cruises.html

[MicCanberra]

I enquired with the Vacations company about the HAL cruise we are currently booked on. They informed me I would need a residential address for bookings, also with Princess needed previous booking, but that I could book most other lines with them.

I found that AusHAL was actually cheaper at the time so booked with them.

I have two sons in the US so do have a residential address available if I wanted it. My point is that they both travel on an Australian passport even though they are residents of the US so the address really doesn`t mean much.

It`s a global society these days and we`re mostly sitting who knows where at our computer. The addresses people use aren`t necessarily where they spend their time. In the long run ships want you aboard spending your money.

There`s a huge long running thread on TA (where you are permitted to name companies) about all this. It gets updated from time to time.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k3350647-Regional_pricing_at_what_cost-Cruises.html

 

Thanks denny girl, much appreciated.:D

[Dizziedi]

Amongst the most commonly known cruise lines here in Australia, Carnival Corporation owns Carnival Cruises Princess Cruises, HAL, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn, P&O and to my knowledge we cannot book any of these through a US TA or with an online US agent.

 

RCCL owns Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity, Azamara (and a few others) and we can and we do book through a US agent without any problems. We have now returned to booking locally due to the slide in the dollar.

 

As Denny Girl said, it's not always cheaper to book through a US TA.

 

Cheers

Di

[MicCanberra]

Amongst the most commonly known cruise lines here in Australia, Carnival Corporation owns Carnival Cruises Princess Cruises, HAL, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn, P&O and to my knowledge we cannot book any of these through a US TA or with an online US agent.

 

RCCL owns Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity, Azamara (and a few others) and we can and we do book through a US agent without any problems. We have now returned to booking locally due to the slide in the dollar.

 

As Denny Girl said, it's not always cheaper to book through a US TA.

 

Cheers

Di

 

That is correct, shopping around has always been the best strategy for cheaper fares.:D

[Murrumba]

I believe the cruise lines do this to entice us Americans to purchase the cruise because our air fair is so expensive and the only way they can get us to purchase is to offer these good rates. As I'm sure you get better rates then we do on US and Caribbean cruises. I do feel your pain though and am sorry you have to pay more.

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

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I do not travel with RCL anymore as I am not allowed to book through US COMPANIES and RCL charge Australians more. I can book directly with HOLLAND AMERICA, NCL, and carnival. I will only travel with these lines now due to the price differences which I will not pay,

[Dizziedi]

Who told you that you can't book RCI through a US agency?

 

Cheers

Di

[MicCanberra]

Who told you that you can't book RCI through a US agency?

 

Cheers

Di

 

Perhaps an Aussie TA:eek:

[bazzaw]

I have noticed in the past that VTG have been quite explicit about those cruiselines that they could not book for Aussies -- but this "explicitness" seems to have disappeared recently??

 

In other words - they do not now explicitly state which cruiselines we cannot book?? (unless it has changed again, I'm not going to look)

 

Frankly, we ( wife and I) don't do enough cruises to get too excited about all this -- I know that some of the fares posted on VTG seem too good to be true -- and I am aware of the old saying.

 

Barry